


Genesis

by RainbowChicatita



Category: 9-1-1 (TV), Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Abusive Parents, But Buck's parents suck, Child Neglect, Evan "Buck" Buckley Deserves Better, Evan "Buck" Buckley Had a Bad Childhood, Gen, Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, Insecure Evan "Buck" Buckley, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parents!McDanno, Protective Danny "Danno" Williams, Protective Grace Williams, Protective Steve McGarrett, Tags Are Hard, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, Younger Buck, not as bad as it could have been
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:54:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29247612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowChicatita/pseuds/RainbowChicatita
Summary: Before Buck found a family at the 118 he had another family, other parents, aunts and uncles, and a sister who showed him the true meaning of family and ohana. This is where Buck's story really begins, back when he was still just 'Evan' on a beach in Hawaii.In which a McGarrett and two Williams’ see a kicked-puppy of a boy in need of help and immediately adopt him into their hearts and ohana.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Danny "Danno" Williams, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Grace Williams, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Steve McGarrett, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 36
Kudos: 249





	1. Lonely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace makes a new friend at the beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, two new fandoms I'm nervous to write in. It's been years since I've written/posted barring a drabble/twoshot I wrote last year for a pretty small fandom that is nowhere NEAR the size of 9-1-1 and/or Hawaii Five-0. So, super nervous because I'm still a relative newbie to both (started watching both of the shows around the same time about a year ago) and never done a crossover. [[This may be a disaster]] 
> 
> I actually planned to make this first chapter longer but I really wanted to post before ‘Buck Begins’ airs even though I haven't caught up on season 4 of 911 at all yet so I don't know how that will affect the story too… This is my very long (so far 15000 words total and counting- I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I want to do either) version of ‘Buck Begins’ with parents!McDanno and littlesis!Gracie, entirely indulgent and not remotely realistic, you’ve been warned!
> 
> This first bit takes place in season 1 of H50. 
> 
> Also, all mistakes are mine, no beta reader and there's only so many times I can look at the same words over and over and not go insane and/or hate everything I write, so there are probably a lot. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Danny had finally given in and had set up a time for Kono to teach Grace surfing. As frustrated as he had been with how slow Kono had taken it when she was teaching him; he was glad for it now because that meant that it would be at least three lessons before his little girl would be in the ocean, far out in the ocean, riding waves that would be so much bigger than her little eight-year-old body. He still wasn’t sure about this whole thing. But on this side of those lessons, as the parent, he was more than fine with their slow pace. The ring of his phone brought his attention to the device rather than the on-going lesson (and his anxieties about it).

Kono heard it as well and based on the look on Danny’s face, she moved towards him, giving Grace instructions to keep practicing and she’d be right back. Grace nodded and went through the motions Aunt Kono had taught her a few more times before her attention wandered. Danno and Kono seemed to both be talking on the phone. Probably work and Uncle Steve or Uncle Chin, or both.

Suddenly Grace saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned her head to find an older boy watching her, well older than her anyway, but he wasn’t much bigger. Grace took a minute to look at him before deciding the best course of action. He seemed small, thin, and sad. Very sad. Like when Danno first moved here any time he had to drive her back to Mom’s before he found Uncle Steve or Uncle Steve found him, or really, she supposed, they just found each other.

Danno had told her about looking out for people that needed help. That’s what her dad, Steve, Kono, and Chin did, they helped people and Grace wanted to be just like them. Grace stepped off her board and took a couple steps toward the boy, who suddenly jumped to his feet from the crouch he had been in with wide eyes and looked ready to run away.

“Hey, wait!” Grace’s voice seemed to make the boy freeze. He didn’t come closer, but he also didn’t run away so Grace took a couple more tentative steps toward the boy with her hands up. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she added since it seemed like the boy thought she might.

“Do you wanna try?” she asked motioning toward the board. “My Aunt Kono was just teaching me; this is our first lesson so it’s just on the sand. But it’s just the first lesson so you can catch up real quick. I can teach you what she’s taught me so far!” The boy still didn’t say anything, but he took a hesitant step towards Grace and the board.

“My name’s Grace,” she offered as he slowly made his way towards her as if afraid of something. She couldn’t think of what. She looked down at her swimsuit and didn’t think she looked really scary? She looked back up at the boy, now that he was closer; he looked a bit older than she first thought. Maybe close to her friend Claire’s brother, who was in middle school. When he didn’t immediately answer back with his name, she prompted, “what’s your name?”

“Uh- Evan,” he said quietly.

“That’s a nice name,” she said kindly. “Evan, do you want to try the stuff Aunt Kono was teaching me and then we could learn to surf together, if you want! I’m sure Aunt Kono would love to teach you as well. She loves surfing and is really good at it, she wants everyone to learn because she loves it so much.” She finally saw some of his fear fade and an excited grin replaced it as he nodded. She smiled back and began to teach him by repeating everything she could remember Kono saying.

“Hey Gracie,” her head whipped around at Danno’s voice as he came stalking over, he had that Detective look on his face (it looked a lot like Uncle Steve’s Aneurism Face). “Who are you with? What are you doing with my daughter?” He sounded angry and Grace just sighed because _she_ knew that Evan was nice and just needed some help; she just had to let her dad know. She turned back to her companion to tell him her dad was just grumpy when you first met him, only to find that scared look back on Evan’s face and his eyes were darting around like he was getting ready to run. Grace just _knew_ she couldn’t let that happen. She didn’t know why, but she knew she couldn’t let him run away because she’d never see him again. And how could she help if she could never find him again? She grabbed his hand before his feet could move.

“Don’t worry, that’s just my Dad, he’s kinda grumpy, but he won’t hurt you, okay? His job is to help people.” Evan still looked seconds away from leaving.

“This is my new friend, Evan, Danno, I was just teaching him to surf.” Danny stopped a few feet away and looked again at the situation. His mind had immediately gone into cop-mode and worst-case scenarios of scumbags taking little kids the second their parent’s back is turned only to be found dead a few days later. Now that he was closer, he saw that the guy with Grace was a kid himself, he looked frail enough to blow away, and scared.

Danny immediately softened his voice and stance, like he would with a kid on a case. His gut was telling him this kid wasn’t a danger to his kid, but that he was _in_ danger himself instead. He needed help, and seeing a kid that scared broke his fucking heart.

“Oh, is that right? It’s nice to meet you, Evan. Look, sorry, about earlier, I just wanted to make sure my little girl was okay.” The kid nodded but still wasn’t really looking at him. It looked like the only thing keeping him there was Grace’s hand. “Grace and I have to go,” Grace was shaking her head and looked ready to argue, his smart kid must have sensed the same thing he had about the boy needing help. “But if you want, we can meet you here tomorrow and Kono could teach both of you to surf then. If she’s willing?” He asked as he felt his teammate come upon their little group. Kono looked around at the situation and seemed to come to the same conclusion as Danny and Grace.

“Of course, bruh, I’ll bring an extra board,” she smiled at the kid. Kono’s kind voice and smiles were great at putting kids at ease, normally.

“N-no, that’s o-kay, I don’t want to trouble you and I should get home,” the two teammates didn’t miss the voice break a little on the word ‘home’. They exchanged worried looks, but didn’t probe at this point. Afterall they didn’t have proof of their suspicions, and they had a case their boss had called them for.

“No trouble at all, kid. I have a ton of boards,” Kono assured him. He didn’t look convinced.

“Well, we have to work, but we’re planning on being back here around noon tomorrow and maybe the day after too, and you’re welcome to join us,” Danny added, not wanting to pressure the kid, but wanting to give him the opportunity of a safe place.

“Yeah, it’d be great to have a friend to surf with!” Grace said, smiling at the other kid. “So maybe I’ll see you tomorrow, okay, Evan?” she didn’t wait for a reply before dropping his hand to give him a hug. The boy just stood there for a second looking shocked with his arms slack at his side.

“O-okay.”

“Okay!” Grace said, sounding delighted at his agreement, pulling back still smiling at him.

“Come on, monkey, we gotta get you to your mom’s.” Danny said still watching the boy her daughter had befriended with a Detective’s eye trying to catalogue everything he could.

“We’ll see you tomorrow, Evan!” Grace called back as she and Danno followed Kono, who had collected the boards, and was already halfway to the car.

“Are we gonna help him, Danno? He seemed really sad.” Grace said in a quiet voice once they were all in the car. Danny and Kono exchanged a look.

“We’re going to help if we can, monkey.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” She asked. And Danny’s heart just burst with pride at how thoughtful and kind his little girl was.

“I think the best thing you can do is be his friend right now.”

“I will, Danno,” she nodded solemnly, in a voice that eerily reminded him of his partner’s vows of determination.

\--------5-0---------

Evan watched the group walk towards a silver Camaro before taking off. He looked back down at the hand the girl, Grace, had been holding. And then rubbed his hands up and down his upper arms as if he was cold. Which couldn’t be possible, right? He was on a sunny beach in Hawaii of all places, and because the average yearly temperature in the winter was 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and today it had to be closer to 85. He had researched all about Hawaii as soon as his parents had announced that they were taking him on their winter trip this year. An announcement that had shocked him at the time.

Not the taking of an expensive trip part, but the bringing him part. They took trips all the time and hadn’t taken him with them on a trip since Maddie had lived with them before college and they had gone on family vacations. Back when they had cared, or at least pretended to care.

Of course, they had followed up the announcement of the trip with saying that his father’s boss was going to be there and had wanted to make it a vacation for all upper management’s families. That had been a bit of a damper on his enthusiasm when he found out that they were only bringing him for sake of their appearances, but at least he was getting out of that house and out of Pennsylvania entirely. Then he had started reading more about Hawaii; the geography, the culture, and he got that enthusiasm back.

Since coming to Hawaii they had only really stayed at the resort that his dad’s company had booked. Evan didn’t want to just stay confined to the touristy areas. He wanted to check out the beaches the locals liked to go to. Maybe watch some real surfing. Maybe he’d even get to put his feet in the ocean for the first time in his life. He’d shyly asked on the of workers at the resort who had given him a once over before giving the name of the beach he had ended up sneaking to today. Well, did it really count as sneaking if your parents don’t care to know where you are as long as you go to their functions and act/dress appropriately to make them look like a happy family?

It had been the perfect time to sneak out because he wasn’t expected anywhere until dinner that evening. He had told his parents he was going to his room (it hadn’t been a _lie_ he did go there first), which they vaguely acknowledged before he left to find this beach. Where he’d met a sweet girl named Grace, who wanted to surf with him. It’d been so long since someone had been that kind to him, since he’d even been hugged. It had probably been since Maddie was last home, which had been over two years ago.

He bit his lip, still gazing off to where the group had driven off. He’d find a way to sneak away again tomorrow. She’d looked so hopeful at having someone to learn to surf with and he didn’t want to let her down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story idea has been in the works for months (actually almost a year) but I’m American (and a political junkie) so you can imagine the stress of the last few months (okay the last year, okay the last 5 years) have been and I've just not been in the headspace to write. Also, you know *gestures at everything* I’ve done what I can when I can but you know ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ A bunch of personal stuff has happened in the last month or so as well which has just sucked.
> 
> Anyway, I’m super excited about this story. I have very big plans (like mulit-chapetered multi-story plans) for this ‘verse and lots of ideas. That being said I am notoriously terrible at multi-chaptered fic and actually fleshing out said ideas with actual words rather than just in my mind. I just couldn’t resist posting this, so let’s all collectively hope for the best in terms of me continuing to work on this after the first chapter is posted. I figure it’s better to put some of this story so others can enjoy it than just have it sitting on my hard drive for only me to read. Although a big reason I wrote anything about these characters was that I wanted to indulge my own love of overprotective Steve and Danno. Everyone else on 911 has family to back them up and poor Buck is so lonely, I just want to people in his corner who can protect him. Is that so wrong?!
> 
> Also man am I a sucker for parents!McDanno. Hopefully, others enjoy this dynamic as much as I do! The first part of this series will be more Five-0 and the later bits are gonna be more 911 focused. Buddie is very much going to be eventual, but I wanted to add that tag because it is end game.
> 
> So, I'll stop rambling. Can you tell I'm super nervous/excited? So, let me know what you think, kids. I’m excited and I hope you are too! Kudos and comments are appreciated!


	2. Mister Impossible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoʻapono. Five-0 works a case involving a hostage situation. Evan plans to do some sight seeing. None of it goes quite according to anyone's plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not watched Buck Begins yet, though I did get caught up a bit and watched the first 3 episodes of this season of 911 and Lonestar and let me just say that crossover was absolutely delightful! 
> 
> [[Quick tangent about it that you can totally skip and go to the next paragraph: I love TK&Evan and Judd&Eddie bromances, and the Hen&Owen stuff!? Ugh, they were so delightful! But also, how do none of them know about Buck and all of his crazy shenanigans!? Just as cool as FireFox, let me tell you. Also I’d really have loved a Marjan&Buck bromance too comparing all their crazy saves, I’m just saying. She could get him and Eddie together since it’s obvious they are already pretty much a couple as she saw on Eddie’s insta.]]
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is actually based on an episode (didn’t plan on it initially the idea just came to me). It’s based on H50 1x07 "Hoʻapono”. I’m hoping I struck the balance between adding my own stuff and not being only a reread of the episode. Also, hopefully I explained enough for those who haven’t seen it to get the gist of everything but not too detailed for seasoned fans. This episode takes place in November in canon, but I’m pretending it happened a bit later in the year/show like mid-to-late January. I don’t own any of the recognizable dialogue from the episode. (I am terrible; I just couldn’t cut a lot of the Steve/Danny dialogue from this episode, it’s just too great, I love them, and overall, I did use quite a bit of it, which is why this update so long). Enjoy!
> 
> As always, all mistakes are mine, no beta reader and there's only so many times I can look at the same words over and over and not go insane and/or hate everything I write, so there are probably a lot.

The case that had called Danny away from the beach that day had wrapped up fairly quickly, so he had been planning to pick up Grace for another surfing lesson (and so they would be able to meet her new friend at the beach again). That was until they got the call from the governor about the hostage situation at Pearl Harbour. They met the Governor’s new public safety liaison who explained the situation.

There was a former SEAL named Graham Wilson, who had taken hostages aboard the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbour. He was demanding they find who killed his wife. The problem with finding the murderer is that he was the one who had been caught that morning at the murder scene with the murder weapon in his hand. When police had caught him in that position, he ran to Pearl Harbour and took hostages demanding they find his wife’s killer in four hours. It seemed pretty clear with all this evidence that he was the prime suspect. The liaison said that SWAT would normally handle this but that the Governor wanted Steve because of his SEAL background. Not Five-0, Steve. To do what would normally take an entire SWAT team to accomplish. _What_ was Danny’s life?!

Steve had told SWAT to stand down and that he was going in alone. Which was absolutely stupid. He bullied the new liaison into doing it his idiotic way. She obviously didn’t know what she had been up against when she had called them to the scene, but Danny knew. And he wouldn’t be easily swayed into letting his partner risk his life by himself, without backup. That was the whole reason they had partners! Someone to have your back when the bullets started flying. And with Steve it felt like they never stopped.

This meant that Danny had to once again be the voice of reason in this week’s edition of “How will Steve McGarrett try to get himself killed by pulling a stupid Superhero stunt today?”. This case was different because it involved a SEAL, one of his brothers. Steve was obviously seeing himself in the SEAL who had taken hostages and felt the need to unnecessarily risk his life instead of letting SWAT handle what was in all likelihood a man who had murdered his wife. Danny swore this was the cause of all his new found wrinkles and the grey hairs he liked to pretend weren’t there; his partner, ladies and gentleman.

“How are you gonna get on the ship without Graham seeing you, that’s all?”

“Graham is expecting a threat from land, not from water.” Steve said it so matter-of-factly, but the words coming out of his mouth were insane to any normal human. “I’m just going to go for a swim.”

“Go for a swim? You’re serious? Now you’re shirtless. That’s great.”

Really, was the stripping of the shirt really necessary? He might as well go in bare ass naked, and fuck, he did not need to go there. He also absolutely did not let his eyes linger on the very nice chest and arms of his partner. His gaze didn’t linger and even if it did it was only in pure disbelief that he had been stuck with this Neanderthal of a partner. Not at all because he wanted to run his hands over those smooth muscles because that would be a very inappropriate thought to have while on a case with said heterosexual partner.

“Believe it or not I’ve done this before,” Steve tried to assure him. The fucking liar.

“You’ve done this before? You’ve snuck onto a floating museum to rescue a bunch of tourists who are being held captive by a man who is accused of killing his wife?” Danny asked. Steve gave him an annoyed look.

“Well, I didn’t mean this literally, but… Look, I can’t see any other way of stopping this thing from escalating. We only have four hours.” When he saw him set his jaw like that, he knew there was nothing he could do; he knew Steve’s stubborn face by now. He saw it every day of his life and even in his fucking nightmares.

“I believe it,” he sighed, resigned. “All right, what’s your plan?”

“Hold SWAT in position so Graham thinks we’re still negotiating. In the meantime, I’ll board, try to make contact while you investigate this murder. I have to gain his trust, get him to see that we’re working on his behalf. So maybe I can get these people out safe, Graham included. But only if he feels like I actually understand him.” That sounds all fine and dandy except for one problem.

“Okay. That’s great. What happens when I investigate this case and I find out he killed his wife, which he most certainly did? Then what?” Danny asked.

“At least we’ll know what we’re dealing with.” And you’ll be alone on a fucking ship with him. Is what Danny wants to yell at him, before Chin and Kono interrupted with the report on HPD finding the suspect on the scene with the murder weapon and his seven year old daughter who hasn’t spoken since she’d been picked up. He told himself that he couldn’t think of Gracie right now. It could not help the situation; it would only distract him.

“Maybe she saw something that freaked her out,” Danny suggested.

“I’ll go see the kid, see if she knows anything. Because I’m the woman on the team. You’d probably ask me to do it anyway,” Kono said.

“No no, it’s not because you’re a woman. It’s because you’re a rookie which is way worse,” he assured her. Kono rolled her eyes at that.

“I’ll have my phone on me, but don’t call me, I’ll call you, okay?” Steve told her.

“Bet you used that line before,” Kono shot at their boss before taking off.

“I’ll initiate contact once I’m in a secure location.” Steve said to them.

“That one too,” Chin joked dryly.

“Good Luck Aquaman!” He waved and watched as his partner walked out of sight. Presumably to find the perfect secret SEAL entry point that another SEAL wouldn’t see. He couldn’t think about his animal of a partner’s non-plan because then his head would explode. Instead, he caught up to Kono before she could leave to meet up with the daughter and child services.

“Hey Rookie,” Danny caught the end of another eye roll as she turned to face him.

“Yes, oh experienced one?” She teased. Her expression turned serious when she saw his face. He knew they had a pressing case, hostages and what-not, didn’t they always? But he couldn’t help himself. He was worried that if they weren’t there to meet the kid Gracie had befriended, Evan, that something bad would happen. He already seemed wary to trust people. What if they missed their chance to help him? Danny had mentioned meeting him at the beach today and tomorrow just in case they had a job to do, but that didn’t mean the kid would be there both days, especially if they let him down today. And how would they find him again if he couldn’t make it tomorrow?

He stopped that train of thought. Because why was he obsessing over this kid? It didn’t make logical sense, he kept reminding himself. But his gut feeling wouldn’t let up.

“Kono, what about Evan, Gracie’s friend, we were supposed to meet him…” Understanding washed over her face. She thought for a second.

“Why don’t we send an HPD officer to wait-” Danny was already shaking his head before she could finish that sentence.

“I don’t want to scare him off. He already seemed skittish.” Kono nodded reluctantly, she saw his point. They needed all hands on deck for this case, he groaned to himself mentally at the pun.

“Well you mentioned tomorrow too, right? We’ll just have to hope that he’ll meet us tomorrow.” Danny agreed, annoyed that the kid was distracting him. And vowing instead to focus up on the case, actual pressing evidence of danger and worry about this kid he didn’t even really know later.

“Actually…” Kono trailed off looking in the distance for a moment before focussing back on Danny. “I have a friend who usually surfs there. I can have her keep an eye out for him today,” she finished already pulling out her phone.

“Thanks, Kono.” She smiled at him, patting his shoulder as she talked on her phone and kept heading towards her car. He hadn’t even realised how worried he was about it until the weight was no longer on his shoulders. He felt like now he could focus on the investigation, if by some miracle Graham isn’t the one who killed his wife

\--------5-0---------

Evan had only two things he had really cared about doing in Hawaii while he was here. Not counting spending actual quality time with his parents, which would only happen if they woke up as totally different people.

Anyway, his achievable list. One; put his feet in the Pacific Ocean, which he planned on doing that afternoon when he would meet Grace on that beach again. And Two, even though it was quite touristy, he really wanted to go on a tour in Pearl Harbour. He had researched it ahead of time. This had started as something he thought he might be able to convince his father to do with him, didn’t most dads love reading about World War II? Apparently not his. But he became genuinely interested and thought he’d be able to go on the first tour of the day and back by the company lunch with his parents none the wiser (they usually didn’t wake up before noon). So, he found himself on the first tour of the day on the USS Missouri.

“Welcome, early risers. The first tour of the day is always the best. Before we get started, can anyone tell me about the battleship we’re standing on?” The older man with white hair and a baseball hat that said ‘USS Missouri BB-63’ that Evan definitely wanted to look for in the gift shop.

Evan took a breath to answer but stopped when he saw a girl, who looked like a college kid, maybe around Maddie’s age, raised her hand and the tour guide pointed to her, he felt himself deflate a little. He had just been working up the nerve to speak up in front of the group. It always took him a minute to feel ready for the eyes on him. “The Missouri was where the Japanese surrendered to Allied Powers to end World War II.” But that wasn’t the only thing the ship had done, she had been around for a long time.

“Very good,” the tour guide said.

Evan couldn’t help himself. He also raised his hand and the tour guide looked at him bemused before nodding to him this time.

“She was used in several battles, not only in Iwo Jima and Okinawa in World War II, but she also fought in the Korean War and provided support in Operation Desert Storm.” He snapped his mouth shut feeling like he’d blurted out too much, as he tended to do when talking about facts that he found when he went down his research rabbit hole. The tour guide seemed surprised at his addition, though thankfully not angry or annoyed like some of his teachers did when he said too much.

“That’s right, kid, you a Navy brat?”

“No sir,” the guide just looked at him as if waiting for more information. “I just- if I’m interested in something I just like to know as much about it as I can.”

Ed looked again at the kid and then at the others on the tour. They all seemed the same level of interested that he saw on most of tours. But not this kid who looked downright eager to be here, as if it was a treat. He looked genuinely enthusiastic, which he had only seen on tours a handful of times in the years he’d been doing this. The blonde kid reminded him of himself when he was sixteen and lied to the navy about his age to join.

“As the kid said, Mighty MO served in battles all over the world. Since 1992 however, right after Desert Storm,” he nodded to the kid who gave him a small grin back, “those guns, like the Missouri herself, have been decommissioned. And now she enjoys a peaceful retirement here in Pearl Harbour. Now let’s get haze grey and underway. Which is ship talk for ‘we’re on the move’."

Before Ed turned around to lead the group further onto the ship, he waved at the blonde kid to come up next to him. Evan looked around and realised no one else was by him so the older man had to be waving at him. He jogged to catch up to his surprisingly fast strides.

“You seem to know a lot about MO, kid, want to help me with the tour?” Evan’s eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly.

“I’m Ed and you are?”

“Evan.”

“Well, Evan, let’s see what you got.” Ed turned around and noticed the group had fallen a bit behind. He turned around and walked backwards a few steps.

“Now, you’re not going to let an old man beat all you and your young legs, are you?” Evan let out a snicker as Ed turned back around and winked at the kid.

\--------5-0---------

Danny was at the victim/suspect’s house when his phone rang. He felt immense relief when he saw that it was Steve calling them, presumably from the ship. Meaning he hadn’t been caught yet. “Hey, you with Graham yet?”

“Yeah, I got him. I got eyes on him. He’s armed. He’s holding eight hostages. Behaviour’s pretty erratic.”

“You mean, as opposed to most hostage-takers that are calm and composed?” Chin laughed next to him at that. But seriously, what kind of report was that for a possible murderer?

“No, with his training, this scenario shouldn’t bother him, but he’s paranoid. He’s unstable. You know what? Check if he’s been treated psychiatrically.”

“Okay. I’m in the house right now. Chin, go see if this guy is on any meds.” Chin headed upstairs almost before he had asked. He swore sometimes the Kelly/Kalakaua cousins read not just each other’s minds, but his too. “Hey, while I got you, we found something; it’s a manuscript stashed away. It’s in Russian. And a safe-deposit key. So if it’s local, I can subpoena the contents.”

“Good. Sounds like you’re making progress,” Steve said.

“Yeah, you uh miss me, don’t you?” He couldn’t help but tease because he thought his partner needed it. And he’s pretty sure it was the truth.

“Oh, yeah. I wish you were here but you don’t swim, do you?” Oh, now he was just being a little shit. How many times did he have to defend himself?

“I don’t swim? I swim very well, actually. I just chose not to.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he teased in his ‘I know I’m right you just don’t want to admit it’ tone of voice. Which was dead wrong this time because he did in fact know how to swim. He was no super SEAL, but he was just fine. New Jersey had a coast too.

“You talking to your wife?” He heard a muffled voice ask.

“I’m talking to my partner,” Steve replied. And it almost sounded like- he made it sound like-

“Oh, Graham’s medicine cabinet is full-on stacked,” Chin thankfully interrupted before his brain spiralled down _that_ avenue of thought “I got sleeping pills, lithium, and clonazepam.”

“Clonazepam,” Steve repeated, “Wait a minute. That’s an antipsychotic. Sometimes used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder”

“All the prescriptions are from Dr Klesko. Bottles are three weeks old, but they’re practically full,” Chin said.

“Okay, this is a really stupid question,” Danny started, but someone had to ask it, “but what happens if Graham stops taking his medicine?” They heard a distant shouting which was probably Graham.

“I think we just found out. I’m also thinking the longer this goes on, the worse it’s gonna get,” Steve said. Then he hung up.

“Not one for goodbyes is he.” Danny observed more to himself than to Chin, who just left out a huff of amusement.

\--------5-0---------

This hadn’t gone exactly as planned, ending up being taken hostage by the man he was supposed to take down. Steve looked around to catalogue the civilians. There were about seven adults who all looked terrified and holy shit there was a kid here. One of the hostages was just a kid. A skinny blonde boy with a red mark above his eye, on the left side. He gave it a second, closer look, and it didn’t look like a recent injury or anything. He would have had to re-evaluate his opinion on Graham if he had hurt the only kid here. And the boy was the only one who looked relatively calm, no not calm, still, as if he was in survival mode.

Steve had seen that look before on his brothers. He heard gasping to his left and turned his eyes to a woman who was flushed and sweating, he saw the kid do the same in his peripheral. The kid moved towards her a split second before Steve himself did.

“Hey. Hey, you okay? You don’t look too good,” Steve asked her.

“Hey. No talking here,” Graham barked out waving his gun in their direction.

“I don’t think she’s well. I think she’s sick, man. Take a look at her,” he insisted to the other SEAL.

“She’s fine,” Graham said.

“I’m okay,” she agreed with him, quietly.

“She’s hypoglycemic,” the kid said in a low voice from the other side of the lady, only for Steve. Steve nodded slightly in acknowledgement before turning back to Graham.

“Can we get some water at least?” he asked.

“What part of ‘no talking’ do you not follow?”

“She needs help,” the kid said quietly but Graham heard. “She could have a seizure or pass out, or worse. She needs some sugar. I can help her, I have juice in my backpack, the green one over there. Please, if you could just get it for her.” Steve kept his eyes on Graham, who didn’t seem to be moving towards the kid threateningly, but he had to be ready to jump in front of him at a moment’s notice. He didn’t think a man who was a father would hurt a kid who was just trying to help someone but he couldn’t be sure. If he made a move towards the kid then it was game over on him playing nice. A kid wasn’t going to get hurt on his watch. Graham wavered before he nodded.

“Okay, you, back over there,” he waved his gun for Steve to get back to his original spot by the other men. He went where as he was told. Still playing nice for now. “You get it,” he nodded to Evan who went to his backpack and quickly grabbed the juice, sitting down by the shaking woman and handing it to her. The boy didn’t turn his back on Graham and kept one eye on him the whole time. Steve watched him, surprised, the kid either had the experience or instinct not to turn his back on a potential threat. Steve filed that observation away and focussed back on Graham and finding a way to get him to let the hostages go, peacefully.

\--------5-0---------

When the man with the gun had first rounded them up during their tour. Evan felt a sharp moment of panic spike into his brain, before he felt himself settle into a logical state, without emotions, because he knew those would do nothing but hurt the situation he was in right now. He had been trying to think of a way to either escape or at least get help for the hypoglycemic woman because it seemed that outside help was delayed, from the police or whoever. Probably the whole ‘we don’t negotiate with terrorists’ thing, if he had to guess.

Then a man who had not been on their tour had entered. From the start something was off with him. The man wasn’t panicked like everyone else. He seemed totally unsurprised to find them all in the old officer’s mess being held at gun point. Not to mention he was pretty sure the man was wearing the hat that Ed, their tour guide, had been wearing earlier. Which is when he connected the dots that this man must have been sent to get them. Evan was glad he wasn’t the only one not currently too terrified to be of any help, and that there seemed to indeed be a plan to get them out of here. He may not have a lot in his life, but he really didn’t want to die on this boat.  
  
Evan watched with horrified eyes as the man next to the newcomer, the guy in a Hawaiian shirt who had given the hypoglycemic lady peanuts earlier, ran at the man with the gun. Which ended with his head being hit on a table. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the newcomer grab something from the ground and shove it in his pocket before standing up, drawing Graham’s attention.

“Who are you? You’re not a tourist.” Evan was honestly surprised he hadn’t spotted it earlier. I said who are you?” But then again Gun Guy did seem to be on the edge of some kind of breakdown.

“My name is Steve McGarrett. I’m Five-0.” What was Five-0? Something to do with police he supposed. But what was it exactly? “But before that, I was a SEAL just like you. BUD/S Class 203.”

“They send you in here to get me?”

“No. I came in by myself. I don’t want anyone else involved until we get a chance to talk straight. Okay? Tell me what really happened. For your service, I thought you deserved at least that much,” The SEAL said in a calm voice.

“I didn’t kill my wife.” Gun guy was a suspected murderer? That’s why he had held them hostage?

“Okay. I believe you, man. We’re trying to get to the bottom of that right now.” Suddenly Gun Guy realised he was missing something and started yelling about his knife, which… must have been what the SEAL, Steve, had picked up off the ground.

“Wait. Graham. Graham, listen. Nobody took your knife. All right? Maybe you lost it. But you have a gun. You have a gun. That’s right. You’re in control. Everybody here knows that. We all know who’s in control here. But you gotta listen to me. If you’re telling me the truth, my team is gonna find that out. They’re working the case as we speak. But you’re not making it easy on us, Graham, holding all these people here. You gotta do the right thing for yourself, for your daughter.” He became agitated at the mention of his daughter.

“Where’s Lily?!”

“My team has her,” he rushed to assure the man with the gun. “She’s safe. I promise you. You have my word. Let’s just let a couple of folks go, like the kid,” The Gun Guy- Graham he supposed, though he didn’t know if that was his first name or last name, looked at him. And he shrunk back a little not liking the attention and gun focussed on him. He knew from experience that it was better to not draw attention.

“Come on. You’re a SEAL and your best tactical advice is for me to let go of my only leverage?”

“What are you talking about? You got me. Take me instead,” Steve said. Evan was pretty sure that would be a dumb thing to do at this point, but maybe this guy was crazy enough to do it?

“I have you too.” Maybe not.

“Come on, Graham. You gotta give me something, man. You gotta show me a little goodwill. At least let me check on this guy before he bleeds out,” he negotiated, gesturing to the guy in the Hawaiian shirt bleeding on the floor.

“Fine. Clean him up,” Graham agreed and Evan let out a small breath because that man’s head looked pretty banged up. It looked like a lot of blood.

“Empty your pockets and your purses,” Steve said to them, taking charge.

“Don’t do anything!” Graham shouted at them, not wanting anyone to make any sudden moves.

“I gotta stop the bleeding here. I got no supplies. I need some nail glue, a sewing kit, anything. That’s it.” Graham seemed to debate the sincerity of the other SEALs statement before he called for them to empty their bags.

“Empty them! Don’t try anything.” And they rushed to find something that would be useful for Steve to patch up the injured man.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. Let me take a look.” The SEAL said to him. “All right you messed him up pretty good, Graham. The good news is you didn’t kill him.”

“I know. If I wanted him dead, he’d be dead.” Evan tried to supress the shudder at the cold certainty in his voice and instead focussed on the hostage that had been hurt.

Evan watched with the other hostages as the SEAL who was sent to save them patched up the other hostage. He watched as the brunet tried to calm down Graham by talking about SEAL training, his wife, his daughter before he took it too far and Graham got skittish again.

Steve begged him to let the injured man off of the ship to prove himself. And Evan was surprised when it actually worked. After he agreed to that Graham announced he was going to be moving them all except for Steve, who he wanted to lock in a small room off of the mess. He looked at Evan for a long minute. Evan looked away not wanting to meet his eyes and make him angrier.

“You, in there too,” Graham gestured with the gun and Evan realised he meant him.

“Me? I-” Graham gave him a hard look and waved with the gun again, effectively ending any protests the kid had, though he wasn’t even sure what they would have been had he been allowed to voice them. Evan shut up and got into the room after Steve. They were shut in with a clang. He could also hear some other loud sounds against the door, he assumed Graham was barricading them in. McGarrett flipped on the light and Evan realized they were in a bathroom.

“Terrific,” McGarrett muttered to himself before looking at Evan.

“Are you okay, kid?” Evan nodded, not quite trusting his voice. It would probably come out decidedly _not_ fine and he didn’t need to be distracting the man who had been sent to stop a hostage taker. “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way out of here, okay? Are your parents with the hostages or maybe outside?” Evan realised he would have to answer that. He cleared his throat, which he thought helped a bit because his voice only sounded a bit hoarse.

“They- er- didn’t want to come, so I just took the tour by myself- wait what time is it?” Steve looked at the kid as if he had lost his mind. But looked down at his watch anyway.

“1:34.” Evan closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He was missing the company lunch. His parents were going to be pissed when he got back to the hotel. And this meant he wouldn’t make it to the beach to meet Grace today either. He wasn’t going to worry about either of those because at this point, he couldn’t do anything about them. All he could do now was try to get out of here alive. He opened his eyes to find the older man watching him.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, my parents are just gonna be- worried,” he answered back lamely, which wasn’t exactly a lie, they would be worried about how it made them look to the other people in the company. Steve eyed him for another moment before he nodded.

“I’m sure they are, but I’ll keep you safe and get you out of here.” He started inspecting the bathroom more closely, obviously looking for a way out. Evan knew he shouldn’t distract him, but he had to ask.

“So, you said you were Steve McGarrett with Five-0… What’s Five-0? Like the cops?” Steve looked back at him.

“What did you say your name was, kid?”

“I didn’t,” he automatically shot back and then realized what he said she eyes going wide and he looked to Steve, but he didn’t look angry or bothered by the sarcasm. Just stared at him.

“Sorry, it’s Evan,” he muttered, looking away from him.

“Well, Evan, it’s my team, a task force created by the governor to help bring down crime on the island, and to help in extra-ordinary situations like this one.” Evan’s eyes snapped back to the former SEAL. This only made more questions rise eagerly in his mind.

“Did you come in alone? Where’s your team?”

“They’re investigating Graham’s wife’s murder,” he answered, still looking around the room they were shut in.

“Are they going to be able to find the murderer before the time is up?”

Steve looked at him assessing, and before he could apologize or even wonder what he had said wrong Steve asked, “Why do you think he isn’t the one who did it? He did take you all hostage.” Evan shifted under his intense stare.

“Well, something seems off about him, but he didn’t really hurt any of us,” he winced remembering the other hostage and the blood coming out of his head wound. “Well except the man that rushed him. But he also let you help him, he didn’t hurt anyone else, including you, and he put me, the only minor, away from any bullets that may be flying and with a task force leader who would be able to fend off any other threats. So even if he may need some psychological help- a lot of psychological help, I just can’t imagine him murdering his wife and going to these lengths to prove he didn’t do it,” he took a breath realising he hadn’t meant to say all that, but it was what he thought. He didn’t want to look at McGarrett, but felt his eyes on him.

“My thoughts exactly.” Evan did look back at him at that and found thoughtful eyes still staring at him.

“How are we going to prove it?” Steve didn’t comment on the ‘we’ as he pulled out his phone.

“Let’s check in on my partner’s investigation and then find a way out of here.”

\--------5-0---------

“Where are you?” Danny demanded as soon as he answered Steve’s next call, walking into his office.

“The head,” he said wryly, “Graham barricaded me in here.”

“In a bathroom? I could have gotten locked into a bathroom.” Danny groused. Steve was safe, for now, but he couldn’t be all SuperSEAL when he was barricaded in the bathroom. It was time to call in the big guns, well, the more guns; SWAT. Which they should have probably done at the start. This hostage situation has gone on long enough.

“It’s a long story.”

“Okay, I’m calling SWAT.”

“No, you won’t call SWAT. I’ll find a way out of here.” Danny slams down his office phone in frustration at his animal of a partner who seemed determined to get himself killed. “Just tell me, what have you got?” said animal asked him.

“Okay. Graham’s psychiatrist said that he’s been experiencing blackouts, which means that he may have killed his wife without even realizing it.” Maybe Danny could get him to see reason and not defend a man who more than likely murdered his wife that morning.

“No, it doesn’t make sense.” That just made Danny lose what little thread of control he had left of his temper. He couldn’t just sit still and so he found himself pacing as he replied to his stubborn ass of a partner.

“How does that not make sense? How does that not make sense to you? I mean the guy fled the crime scene with the murder weapon in his hand. I mean, I am no detective-” he stopped and infused even more sarcasm into his voice. “Wait a minute. Where am I? Oh, I’m a detective! He is still our prime suspect.”

“Graham identified me as a threat and didn’t do anything. He could have killed me, but he didn’t.” Steve may have a small, very small point, but all evidence was still pointing at him being guilty. They dealt in evidence.

“All right, listen, I know this guy is a SEAL. And brothers in arms, the whole thing, I get that. But that does not mean he didn’t kill his wife,” he tried to plead with Steve because he didn’t want his partner and innocent people to die because of someone else’s mistake. Graham was unstable and sure he hadn’t killed Steve yet, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. Steve was still stuck on a boat with him, barely armed and alone.

“You’re right. You’re right. But I promised him that we’d investigate this murder.”

“What do you think I’m doing? I am investigating. Unfortunately, he’s our only suspect. In my experience, when you only have one suspect, he’s usually the one that you put in jail.” He sighed. “Okay, you want to broaden the search, fine, but you’re gonna have to give me something else.”

He heard muffled speech on the other end of the call, he heard ‘-ife’.

“Is someone in there with you?” Danny asked, sure he had heard something. But he had to be wrong. Steve would have told him that very prevalent detail, right?

“Yeah, he put one of the hostages in here with me. There was a kid on the tour group and he put him in here. I think he wanted him to be safe if… this ends badly.”

“There’s a kid on board!? The liaison didn’t say anything about a kid!”

“Focus up, partner, he’s here with me, he’s fine. And he has a point, I actually might have a new lead. Graham said that Noreen was a Russian citizen. They moved here six years ago.” It took a minute for Danny to not think of a _kid_ being caught up in this hostage mess. Another kid besides the possible murderer’s that is. Right, Steve was capable of caring for a kid and himself. He thought back to the victim’s recent past.

“That would explain why she has no record prior to ’04.”

“Right. And she changed her identity before they came here. Her first name is Irina. So dig deeper. You know what? Maybe that manuscript you found can help.” Danny made his way over to his desk, sitting and writing down the new information Steve had provided on their victim.

“Okay. Well, I already sent that over to your friend Catherine in Intelligence. She said we’ll have a translation back in an hour. Oh, and the key, I got a match to a safe-deposit box at First Hawaiian Bank. They’re sending the contents over right now.”

Steve and Evan both jumped as a loud banging sound came from the door.

“What was that.” Danny yelled, jumping to his feet from his chair. “What the hell was that?!” He demanded.

“I’ll call you back, I’ll call you back,” Steve said quickly hanging up on his partner and shoving the kid behind him in the stall facing the door with fists ready. When the door banged open, they were both met with familiar white hair.

“I figured you’d want your things back,” Ed said, tossing Steve his bag. He looked behind him, seeing Evan.

“Oh good, kid, didn’t know you’d be in here. Glad you found McGarrett and that you’re okay,” Ed said clapping him on the shoulder once he came out from behind the SEAL.

“You too, Ed, I’m glad you’re okay. I was hoping you got out.”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t leave you all, you’re _my_ group.” He felt a swell of fondness for the older man who had risked his life to help people he didn’t know because he felt responsible for them.

“How’d you get past Graham without him seeing you?” Steve asked him.

“Well, I know things about this ship that aren’t on your map,” the tour guide said cheekily.

“I thought I told you to stay put.” Steve didn’t really sound angry, just resigned.

“Hmmm? I’m an old man. I don’t always hear so good. Hm?” Steve looked exasperated and Evan couldn’t help but let out a laugh at that.

Once they were out of the bathroom. Steve stopped them at a table and pulled out the knife he must have stolen from Graham.

“You had that fellow’s knife and you were standing right next to him and you didn’t take him out?” Ed asked him.

“There’s a way to do this where nobody has to die.” He’d never felt such reverence for an adult before as he did now with this man wanting to help his fellow SEAL with as little bloodshed as possible.

“Besides, this is evidence. Look at the dried blood on this knife. There’s a fingerprint in there. I think it was put there at the time of the murder.” He explained looking from Ed’s sceptical face to Evan’s fascinated one. They watched as he dusted the knife for prints using some foundation he had taken earlier while patching up the hostage. Then he took a picture of the print and sent it to his team, which Evan found infinitely awesome that they could do that.

“This could be what clears him."

“You really think he’s innocent, don’t you?” Ed asked Steve in wonder.

“It makes the most sense,” Evan said. Steve nodded in agreement.

“My team’s motto is ‘leave no man behind’ Now we just need to find him.” He added, sheathing and pocketing the knife again.

“Where do you think he took the other hostages?” Evan asked.

“He’ll need another place with a good view of the gangway. I think the best place would be the pilot house,” Steve looked to Ed.

“Well, I know a shortcut,” the older man said.

“Lead the way.” Steve followed Ed out of the mess with Evan behind him.

“Took me awhile but I swore that I knew the name Steve McGarrett. Your grandfather was in the Navy wasn’t he?” Ed asked Steve as he led them through his shortcut in the belly of the ship.

“Yes, sir. Stationed here at Pearl,” Steve confirmed.

“Yeah, I remember, heh,” Ed chuckled to himself. “Tough son of a gun.” Evan’s eyes widened at the realisation that his tour guide had been at Pearl Harbour. He could be the right age. Was that around the time of the attack…

“Wait a minute,” Steve muttered before moving in front of the guide. “You served with my grandfather?”

“On the _Arizona_ ,” the old man said.

“Were you one of the lucky ones?” Evan asked, a bit of awe evident in his voice. The old man shook his head sadly.

“It wasn’t luck. I wasn’t on board that day. I lied about my age to enlist. I was sixteen at the time. They found out, but the officers liked me and they kept me around as a runner. So that’s what I was doing December 7th, 1941. Running messages to the Army at Fort Shafter across the harbour. I could see those explosions those men I admired so greatly. They gave their lives for all of us. And I couldn’t do a damned thing for them. I walk past the Arizona Memorial every day. And I am reminded of their sacrifice. The man that you are named after was a real hero. You should be very proud.” Evan looked to Steve and saw his eyes look misty at the mention of the people who died that day, including his grandfather, apparently. A man he obviously looked up to.

“I am proud. Come on, let’s go,” Steve said before they kept on their way. He wondered how it must be to have such a strong connection to your family, to your history, and to have that pride. Evan had his sister for the first part of his life, but with college and Doug, he just didn’t have that tether any more. He wished he knew what it was like to have that sense of history and pride in who he was that he could hear in Steve’s voice.

Steve called his partner again as they made their way through the hallways for any more news on the investigation. They both had seemed to decide that Graham was no longer the prime suspect. Ed stopped them short from moving forward making Evan almost run into them both since he was trying to listen to news about the murder investigation. Ed pointed to a door above them as the direction they need to go next. Evan was close enough to distantly hear the other person on the phone.

“Don’t get soft on this guy, partner, all right? Not until we have absolute proof that he didn’t kill his wife. And if he did and it comes down to it; are you gonna be able to take this guy out?”

“It’s not going to come to that,” Steve said before hanging up. He stopped looking at the door Ed had gestured to and glanced at the kid that was with him, who looked a bit scared but determined. He didn’t think it would be necessary, but he also knew that to protect this kid, this Navy vet, and the other civilians he’d do whatever he needed to do to protect them.

“You should go hide kid, Ed can-”

“No, I want to help the others,” the boy insisted. “Plus,” he added before Steve could argue. “What if Graham tries to escape and he runs into me alone. Unarmed.” The SEAL seemed to think it over before he nodded at this logic.

“Fine, but you stick to him,” He said nodding to Ed. “And do everything I say, copy?” Evan nodded immediately, glad because he did want to help but also because he felt safer with the SEAL than he would probably feel without him.

Once they’d gone topside and had eyes on Graham, Steve pushed Evan firmly behind Ed, before they made their way closer but still with good cover. Ed and Evan stayed back on the staircase as Steve tried to talk to Graham and calm him down. Evan jumped when Graham fired a warning shot.

“I need my pack; this has gone on way too long. It ends now,” Steve said to them both. They headed further away. He told them to wait by the door for the hostages and to lead them out while he dealt with Graham.

This apparently meant throwing a can of tear gas into the room they were being held in as a distraction so he could get to the other SEAL. Ed and Evan did their part by leading the coughing hostages out of the pilot house.

Meanwhile McGarrett had been caught by Graham with a gun on the back of his head. The rest of Five-0 had called while Graham was holding a gun to head. Steve and his team tried to tell Graham that it had been his wife’s ex-husband and his daughter’s biological father who had been the one to murder her. But his wife had told him that her ex was dead and so he believed Yegor was dead and wouldn’t listen to them. Graham threw Steve’s phone overboard and made him get on his knees with his hands on his head and a gun on him.

Steve was still trying to talk him down before it escalated even more. Graham didn’t seem to be angry. He seemed to be blaming himself for leaving that morning.

“What if I really killed Noreen?” Graham asked, lowering the gun off of Steve.

“You didn’t kill her, Graham,” Steve insisted, trying to tell with his back to him if it was safe to turn around and face him. “Yegor did it. Yegot killed her. This is over. You hear me? This is over, Graham.” At that moment he looked up and saw a SWAT team member aiming his gun right at Graham.

“No no!” He yelled to him. Graham looked up and seeing the threat, fired on the SWAT guy. He pushed Steve out of the way of the gunfire.

“McGarrett,” Steve heard and he looked behind him to find Ed and Evan suddenly in the doorway next to him. He felt a spike of adrenaline in his veins to find his two companions in the middle of a firefight.

“Look out. Get back!” Right as he said it there was a shot and Ed grabbed his arm that had been shot. Graham went back down the stairs into the pilot house. Steve looked over at the two, but Evan was already taking off his jacket to use to put pressure on the wound. At their nods Steve followed after Graham, knowing that there would be more SWAT all around them now.

“Drop your weapon now!” he heard SWAT shout and saw the indecision on Graham’s face before his hand tightened on his gun and he began to raise it. Steve tackled him to the ground as SWAT started firing.

“Cease fire! Cease fire!” Steve shouted, showing the weapon he had taken from Graham with his hands up. He handed off the weapon to SWAT and waited until they were ready to handcuff Graham before getting off of him and heading back up the stairs to his little makeshift team.

“You okay?” Steve came back after taking down Graham to find Evan still holding his jacket over the gunshot wound Ed had taken in the upper arm.

“Getting shot hurts,” Ed joked hoarsely.

“I’m sure it does,” Evan muttered sarcastically.

“What were you thinking?” Steve demanded in disbelief. Looking at both of them, but Ed was the one who answered.

“Well, leave no man behind,” he said with a shrug and then a wince. Evan nodded his agreement.

“Is that right?” Steve asked with a small smile on his face. “Well, you’re both crazier than I thought. Come on, let’s get you two checked out.” Steve walked with them to the end of the gangplank where he saw SWAT walking with Graham in cuffs.

“Go on,” Ed said at Steve’s look. “I think we can make it the rest of the way.”

“I’ll come right back to check on you,” Steve promised before taking off after SWAT and Graham.

Evan helped take Ed the rest of the way off the boat to the waiting ambulance where paramedics immediately came up and started looking them both over. Evan tried to wave them off saying Ed was the one who was shot, but one of the paramedics, a middle-aged female paramedic wouldn’t hear of it.

“My partner’s looking him over. I need to check you out.” Her face and words brooked no argument, so Evan resigned himself to be looked over. As soon as she declared him fine (which he thought took much longer than necessary) he went to find Ed to make sure he was alright as well. When he found him the tour guide seemed to be still full of energy and complaining good-naturedly about all the fuss around him.

“I’m fine,” he said when Evan got the chance to ask how he was. “Thanks kid,” he said genuinely and before he could ask what the thanks was for, he saw the old man shifting around and using his good arm to reach into his pocket.

“Wait I don’t think you should-” Ed scoffed at him. And finally produced his USS Missouri hat that he had been wearing at the start of his tour that Steve had worn when he had entered the hostage room. He put the hat on Evan’s head.

“I doubt you’ll forget this day,” he said dryly. “But for all your help you deserve a small thank you from the Mighty Mo for helping defend her and her passengers.”

“I- thank you,” he choked out. “And I should be the one thanking you, for getting us out of there and for everything.”

“Eh, I didn’t do much,” he grumbled. “It’s McGarrett you should thank.”

“Well, him too,” he agreed with a grin.

Evan looked around to find Steve McGarrett, he’d wanted to thank him for everything and he’d probably be on his way back soon, Evan doubted he was someone who made promises lightly. Instead, as he was scanning the area, he saw Graham first. He was hugging, who he assumed was his daughter. McGarrett wasn’t too far behind them. Shit, his eyes when back to Graham. He had to get back to the hotel to his parents.

“Hey Ed, I should really get back to the resort, my parents…could you do me a favour? And just… tell him… well, just thank Steve?”

“Of course, and hey,” before he could run off, he turned back to Ed. “Take care of yourself kid,” he said earnestly. Evan swallowed at the concern, for him, in the voice a man he had just met.

“You too,” he said before headed back to the resort, and his probably angry parents with dread, but thinking he may as well get this over with.

Steve walked past Graham embracing and reassuring his daughter to check in with his team, or what it really ended up being was getting updated by Chin and Kono and getting yelled at by Danny. Then he saw one of the ambulances packing up, and told his team he’d be right back mid-Williams rant, before he went back to check on Ed and Evan before they left.

“Hold up, hold up!” He yelled as he jogged back over. Ed was sitting up on a gurney, looking more grouchy than injured.

“Hey I had to check back up on my teammates, how you doing, sir?”

“Fine, if they’d ever let me off this damned gurney,” he muttered. McGarrett was looking around for his other charge, but not finding him. Had he been injured when Steve hadn’t been looking and been taken to the hospital?

“Where’s the kid?”

“Said he had to get back to his parents.”

“Oh,” he supposed that made sense. He could imagine how Danny or he would have been if Grace had been caught in a similar situation. But he had wanted to see him one more time at least, to make sure he was alright. Evan had seemed fine, honestly tougher than a lot of people he had gone into BUD/S with, but still he’d wanted to make sure he had gotten safely to his parents.

“He did want me to thank you for him. And I wanted to thank you well. You’re a hell of man, just like your grandfather.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you, Ed,” he said back, though his heart wasn’t quite in the smile he offered. Still disappointed he hadn’t made sure Evan had been okay.

“He’ll be fine, McGarrett, he’s a tough kid,” Ed assured him, echoing his own thoughts.

“Yeah, I know,” he said with fondness in his voice. He hoped he’d gotten back to his parents safely. He’d also wanted to tell the kid’s parents how proud they should be of their son. He knows he would be if Evan was his.

He said his farewells to his grandfather’s old Navy buddy. Thinking that maybe this had all happened and that the universe had wanted him to meet a Navy vet and a strong kid for a reason. He headed back to the team, who were all milling around the Camaro Kono and Chin chatting with some HPD and SWAT officers and Danny talking with the liaison Laura Hill. He figured he’d better break them up. Okay, maybe he’d missed him on this case just a bit. He was sure his earful from his partner about this case was far from over. It was sure to be a loud ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter actually came about because I wanted Steve to meet Evan on his own and him getting caught up in this Five-0 case seemed perfect. This ended up having more scenes from the episode than I planned. As I rewatched this episode (multiple times) for this chapter. I just kept seeing scenes I wanted Evan to be in and for him to see; it was hard to cut them. I hope it ended up for the best. There will be some episodes infused as we go along, but maybe not as strongly canon as this one was. Who knows, though, I actually quite enjoyed writing this one. 
> 
> I was blown away by the response to last chapter, babes! Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos, they all made my day when I saw them. I’m so glad you all were wanting to see something like this too! It helped assuage my nerves just a bit. I’m sorry I’m terrible about replying individually, I honestly appreciate each and every one of you, but a new chapter is even better than individual responses this time, right!?
> 
> Also, I had a question in the comments about Evan’s age in this and thought I’d answer it here, I made him a bit younger, so he’s 14 at the start of this which is about 3 years younger than canon. Season 1 of Five-0 is in 2010/2011. [[And super weird calling him ‘Evan’ instead of ‘Buck’, I am still getting used to it. And we’ll get to nicknames eventually, I swear!]] 
> 
> The timeline for my story is already pretty wonky since Danny was learning to surf from Kono in 1x15 in canon but this chapter is 1x07, but oh well. Waves hands *fanfic maAaAgic*  
> [[One of these days I’ll make my A/ns more concise and less rambling but that day is not today.]]
> 
> Let me know your thoughts! You guys really inspired me to update so quickly (well that and I had a bit of extra time this week, plus this chapter being so episode-centric gave me the plot and dialogue already, I admit, I’m a cheat). Anyway, thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are lovely as always.


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